Federal Flemish bond brickwork rises 2+1/2 stories in front of you, under a sloping gable roof, the imposing mansion that was once the Loats Female Orphan Asylum of Frederick City. The small addition on the east end, now easy to spot, once served as an office for the home's original owner, John Baltzell, M.D. (1774–1854). This house moved through hands until its third owner, John Loats, who as the first president of the Frederick and Pennsylvania Line railroad, headquartered in Frederick, set in his will of 1879 the Loats Female Orphan Asylum of Frederick City.
The building's civic mission endured; today it serves as headquarters to the Historical Society of Frederick County. Historic recognition came when the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Stand close and notice the dignified Federal form and the careful Flemish bond brickwork that give the house its imposing presence.
Imagine how an office once opened into daily life on the east end, and how Loats' bequest reshaped the house's purpose. Flemish bond brickwork and a sloping gable roof still frame the east addition where John Baltzell once kept his office.